News Broadcasting
NDTV’s first-ever programme for Zee TV to launch 22 March
Zee Television will examine the lives of celebrity personalities in-depth with a new show Jina Isi Ka Naam Hai. This is the first time Prannoy Roy’s New Delhi Television (NDTV), that provides all content on Star News, has produced a programme for the channel.
The celebrity show is set to commence airing from 22 March every Friday at 9 pm.
The show will see important personalities from different walks of life like film, politics, sports take centrestage. The show will interact not just with the celebrities but also with people who have played important roles in their lives. In this way a well rounded personality will be exposed. Actor Shah Rukh Khan kicks off the action. His friends in school, a school teacher, his wife Gauri and her parents are among those who will be interviewed.
Subsequent episodes are expected to feature, among others, former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly and Bihar political strongman Laloo Prasad Yadav.
The show is being produced by NDTV World, a wholly owned-subsidiary of NDTV. Roy had reportedly arranged funding to launch NDTV World as an entertainment channel but put the plans on hold as the prevailing climate of dwindling advertising revenue coupled with increasing programming costs was a major dampener.
ZEE ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO LATA SHOW: Zee TV has reportedly secured exclusive telecast rights for a mega Lata Mangeshkar musical programme organised in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Awaz Hi Pehchan Hai marked 60 years of India’s most celebrated songstress’s involvement in the recording business. Among the other singers who were present at the function included Udit Narayanan, Roop Kumar Rathod and Usha Mangeshkar.
At the function, Zee Telefilms chairman Subhash Chandra presented the singer with a cheque for Rs 10 million as a donation towards a facility for the poor at the Deenanath Mangeshkar Memorial Hospital in Pune city of Maharashtra state.
News Broadcasting
Network18 Q4 revenue grows 9.7 per cent, EBITDA at Rs 30 crore
PAT improves to Rs 306.6 crore, margins steady amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: Not all news is breaking, some of it is quietly improving. Network18 Media & Investments Limited appears to be doing just that, tightening losses and stabilising margins even as costs continue to weigh on the business. For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,955.1 crore, up from Rs 1,896.2 crore in FY25, signalling modest top-line growth in a challenging media environment. Total income stood at Rs 1,978.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,913 crore a year earlier.
Profit after tax came in at Rs 306.6 crore for the year, a sharp turnaround from Rs 3,225.4 crore in FY25, largely reflecting the absence of large exceptional items that had inflated the previous year’s numbers. On a more comparable basis, the company’s operating performance showed signs of gradual stabilisation.
However, the quarterly picture remained under pressure. For the March quarter, Network18 reported a loss of Rs 53.1 crore, narrower than the Rs 98.1 crore loss in the same period last year, but still indicative of ongoing cost challenges.
Expenses continued to track high. Total expenses for FY26 stood at Rs 2,235.7 crore, up from Rs 2,197.8 crore in FY25. Key cost heads included operational expenses of Rs 765.9 crore, employee benefits of Rs 475.9 crore, and marketing, distribution and promotional spends of Rs 427.1 crore, underlining the continued investment required to sustain reach and engagement.
At an operating level, margins remained under strain. Operating margin stood at 2.33 per cent for FY26, marginally higher than 1.77 per cent in FY25, while net profit margin remained negative at -13.02 per cent, though improved from -14.89 per cent.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 8,957.6 crore as of 31 March 2026, from Rs 8,317.5 crore a year earlier. Equity strengthened to Rs 4,958.7 crore, while borrowings increased to Rs 3,112.8 crore, reflecting a higher reliance on debt to support operations.
Cash flows told a mixed story. While financing activities generated Rs 83.9 crore, operating cash flow remained negative at Rs -24 crore, highlighting ongoing pressure on core cash generation. Cash and cash equivalents, however, improved to Rs 33.9 crore from Rs 1.8 crore.
The numbers point to a company in transition growing revenues, trimming losses, but still grappling with structural cost pressures. In a sector where scale often comes at a price, Network18 seems to be inching towards balance, one quarter at a time.
